There MUST be More
by NatoryZone
Summary: An experienced red cloak finds themself wanting more than what was left behind on the path to the mountain. So they set their eyes to the endless desert and hope that maybe there's more out there to learn.
1. Ch1: First Step in a Thousand

Sand – it was always sand that first greeted them when they started the cycle again. That and the waving cloth anchored to a gravestone to greet them. The wayfarer trudged up the slope and, as always, the mountain shined just behind it. They basked in its glow for a split second before surfing down the dune and making their way to the first shrine. After collecting the first glyphs, the red wayfarer paused to look at the statue at the center of it all, standing as it always had.

The cloaked figure gave a low whined 'chrrrr' and kicked the sand before pacing about.

A thousand thoughts and few ways to express them plagued the wayfarer. Not having proper ways to voice said thoughts definitely was number one on the list on things that bothered them. They sat down roughly and stared hard at the sand before them- ignoring the silent call of the statue.

There was a feeling growing in their chest over the loop that they, and every other wayfarer, went through. From here to the mountain and back - just to do it again. They were immensely frustrated.

Make no mistake, they still loved the trip very much, loved teaching the new ones and the fun times with the experienced ones. But they wanted... something. Something something something.

They whacked the ground with their pointed leg in frustration.

How many times had they gone to the mountain? If the patterns didn't stop after four trips, they were sure they'd be completely covered in gold by now. They knew everything here by heart, even helped create new things in the wake of things that they _all_ realized were fundamentally missing.

They thought back to all their journeys, the hundreds of other wayfarers they meet on the way, and the things they all past between each other in order to just make themselves clear to one another. Rapid chirps to say 'this way!' or 'I found something! Come look!'. A stomp on the ground meaning 'I'm mad.' The silly face plant they all thought was a good way to say ... er, well... let's have fun/ this is fun/this harmless/I feel silly-stupid... depends really, it was one of the more 'open' expressions. Sometimes they did it just 'cause.

But they suppose that they simply wished _the-ones-from-before_ had left them just a little bit more to work with.

Like what the glyphs said. They had to have meanings behind them, but they weren't like the tapestries that were easy to understand. They're meanings were lost on _the-ones-from-now._  
Worse, all of them had one, but they couldn't really say them to others. Draw them out to say 'this is my glyph! If you see this glyph again it's me!' But what did the glyphs stand for really? For all they knew a glyph could mean 'stupid-face' and they'd never know.

The wayfarer absentmindedly drew their own glyph lazily in the sand with their leg.

nn  
nn

That's what their glyph looked like. It looked an awful lot like the gates they surfed through on the way to the caves, but who really knew?

Maybe that's the point they supposed. Start over, make what you will of the world and the things left behind, just don't fight with each other and cause another world-ending war. Maybe they had to make it mean something new, don't linger on what it could've meant, but what you could make it mean.  
So,

_nn_

_nn_

sat and thought for a moment, what could they make their glyph mean? What should it mean? They had thought about it before but never went through with it all the way. The reasoning had always been "it's probably not that" or "its meaning must be around here somewhere.' But now... after searching the path top to bottom for a few hundred times? Those reasonings simply weren't holding up anymore to hold off any longer.

So what guess could they make of it?

Gates? Doors? Arches? Gateway, Doorway, Archway? Those were the simplest ones. They weren't really sure how 'one who loved to surf through gates/doors/arches down a steep sand hill' would pan out in a theoretical casual talk.

After some time of thinking, the wayfarer decided "Archways" made a 'nice' name.

...  
How would one say 'Archways' anyway?  
...

For the next hour or so, Archways made a fool of themselves with an array of odd chirps, screeches, tweets, and booms trying to figure out what 'archways' should theoretically sound like. But alas they thumped to the ground frustrated once more. They had so very little to go by, even with _the-ones-from-now_ slowly, so slowly, making their own version of a language.

...  
maybe there WAS something left behind by _the-ones-from-before_ that could help with communication between _the-ones-from-now_. A point of reference so to speak.  
But it wasn't here, no doubt about it, but maybe it was beyond the path of the mountain.  
Archways expertly climbed to the top of the ruins and gazed into the seemingly endless desert. Perhaps out there, there was more left behind from them. More history, more references, more lessons, more _things_ to satisfy the growing curiosity that they had no answers to here.

Taking one last look at the mountain, the shining beacon in a ruined world, the one who called for all to make the trip, to which Archways made a series of notes that held meaning, a song of sorts from some forgotten tale, low and slow and held long like you didn't want to let go.

"Goodbye," they said. "Do not pity me, I was born for this."

It was the last thing _the-ones-from-before_ had left, the one that fueled their want for more every time they heard it on the wind at death's door in the bitter cold storm.

"'Archways'!" They tried. "was born for this!"


	2. Ch2: First Challenges

The first hurdle to get past was the blasted wind barrier, but of the hundreds of others they had travelled with, a few had found some weak points and had been excited to spread the news and technique around. It was a little hard because you had to build up a lot of speed and then get under the wind to push through.

Getting the speed was easy for Archways. They could fly higher and stay up longer than most others. Even some white cloaks -who had the advantage- had to really work it to keep up. This sort of happened simply because Archways never liked the color on themselves –even with the added perks- but still wanted to do the tricks that the white cloaks could perform. So, stubbornly, they took the harder route and ended up getting a lot of experience from their experimentation.

Archways, before they took off, wanted to get to a higher spot on top of the ruin as not to waste energy.

And here came another useful skill they learned, one that was tricky for everyone no matter what since it didn't come naturally like flying –Climbing.

Moving back to the ruins, Archways eyed the eroding building up and down looking for footholds; the metal gates were no good, their legs always slipped through and would get caught, they needed something solid to brace against.

Soon they found the easiest spot to climb- lots of holes in the wall and a short distance to the top.

They started first by pressing their whole body against the wall, to help balance them, and then put their leg into the first foothold. They then pushed up and then reached with their free leg into the next foothold. On and on they carefully shimmied up the wall til they reach the top of the wall. Now getting over that last bit and onto the roof was the trickiest. With no more wall to brace against, the wayfarer had to plant their face onto the roof and roughly throw the rest of their body after them.

After that it was the easy part. Archways leapt into the air with one powerful stroke and spread out their cloak wide to catch the wind. Using the wind barrier as an aid, Archways was tossed up high into the sky.

Archways circled once around the ruins to correct themselves before bee-lining to the weak point in the barrier. As they neared, they closed their cloak tight, tilted downwards, and dropped like a boulder; and at the last second before they'd ultimately plant themselves into the ground, they open their cloak to maximum and forced themselves out of the downward drop.

The wind barrier hit them like a solid rock of fury. Archways squinted their eyes shut as they were buffered by the flying sand and gave another mighty flap of their cloak to push through.

They were close to punching through, but the wind was starting to grip their cloak to yank them away. One last almighty heave ripped them from the wind's grasp and they tumbled out the other side of the barrier.

With no glyphs left to spare, Archways shouted in triumph as they got to their feet and shook off the sand.

Now the fun part.

What was way out there in the endless desert?

For the first couple days, Absolutely Squat _NOTHING_. At least nothing to answer Archways' curiosity. Sand, sand, rock, sand, sand, sand, rock, !cloth friends!, sand, grave, the foundations of a building, sand, sand, saaaaaaand.

Though they were some new experiences.

Flying for two days straight was starting to seem like a bad idea. There was this heaviness that they just couldn't shake off and it was getting worse. But they had no idea why that was, surely it would have been the same as the usual two hours flying they did to the mountain?

Archways' eyes fluttered closed against their will and then quickly snapped open when they veered to the side. It had been like this for hours now and, regrettably, Archways knew they had to land and figure this out or drop out of the sky anyway. They couldn't focus and they'd surely miss things like this.

A bit of sand slapped them in the face. Archways shook it off sluggishly but more just replaced it.

A sudden burst of wind caught the wayfarer off guard and nearly pushed them into a huge dune. Where was this wind and sand coming from? Another wind barrier out here that they had to get over?

Archways bleary scanned the horizon.

Suddenly they felt frozen as ice as their eyes spotted something very worrying.

A little ways to their right, a wind barrier that engulfed the sky was barreling straight for them. With a start, Archways realized that it was a sandstorm. One that could do major damage if they didn't find cover _fast_.

But as they looked all around, there was simply _nothing_ to hide behind. They looked around frantically and tried to fly higher; there must be something around here, even just a little boulder would do.

The sandstorm didn't care and another strong wind beat the wayfarer down. Even if there was no cover, they had to land fast lest they lose total control to the raging storm. The large sand dune was probably their only option so they turned on a dime and they let themself plummet to the ground. The sand blew wildly and the storm made haste The sky was losing its light and the dune was starting to vanish in a sea of sand. Just when they touched the ground, the wall had reached them and unleashed its wrath.

Archways screeched in alarm as they were tossed and turned with no way of knowing sky from ground. Their legs frantically searched for purchase as they wrapped their cloak painfully tight around them. They eventually slammed into a dune and the moment's pause was enough for Archways to right themselves and press themselves as flat as a cloth friend into the dune. But the wind was strong and wrestled to get under the wayfarer's cloak. Archways struggled to keep the wind from lifting them off the ground but to no avail. They were ripped from the ground momentarily, but it was enough for the wind to carry them up and away.

It was only thanks to being blow harshly into a now revealed broken war machine that Archways found a place to hide. Though the wind nearly separated them from their sweet haven of cover, yet Archways won. The wind howled in blistering rage at its escaped prey. Archways pressed themself tightly to the walls of the broken machine and let themself have a moment to breathe.

They felt a tickle at their legs. Archways pinged in confusion as shifted carefully to search for the source. The storm wasn't done yet and was now shoving wave after wave of sand into the small space.

Alarmed now, Archways started to swipe, kick, and push at the sand frantically in an attempt to get the sand out. It wasn't working and soon the sand had invaded the space. Archways curled up as tightly as they could, knees above their head and cloak shrink-wrapped around.

The sand licked at their back but never engulfed them. Archways cracked an eye open; when had they closed them? It was pitch black now, the sand blocking the entrance, but also blocking the storm from reaching them.

They were effectively buried.

That heaviness from before was back now that they were safe. Chirped feebly at the heaviness.

'Go away' they wanted to say. Eventually, they lost the fight and fell asleep for the first time in their life.


	3. Ch3: What lies beneath the surface

Everything was quiet when Archways came to.

Mostly because Archways laid very still thinking they were supposed to wait for _the-ones-from-before_ to do their thing – the thing they do at the mountain where they hypercharge them with energy to get through the final bit of the storm. They had woken up a short while ago much like during that portion of the journey, lying on the ground seemingly lifeless only to be suddenly awake and alive and full of energy again. The heaviness from before was now gone as well and Archways was now alert much as they had been two days ago.

And yet nothing happened. No _ones-from-before_ appeared nor any energy gifted to them for pushing determinedly forward. Just… suddenly awake again.

Archways gave a small chirp trying to get the attention of any _ones-from-before_ that may be watching over them.

Still nothing.

Archways rolled onto their back in the small space and stared at nothing in particular. They were confused as to what was happening and why certain things _weren't_ happening. Archways decided to give a much louder boom of noise, but still, there was no one to answer them.

Archways was starting to feel very alone.

And very cramped.

Archways looked to where they had entered the hiding space. They could barely see it as the only light in the space came from their glowing eyes.

Time to start digging they suppose. But digging with their blade-like legs was not the way to go. Instead, they gave loud booming shouts that moved the sand a lot faster than frantically swiping with their legs would have. The sand in front of them shifted behind them as they inched forward with each explosive cry until finally, the sand burst outwards into the open air.

The storm was gone leaving the desert pretty much how it was before if shifted a little. Or perhaps a lot – Some new things had been unearthed during the storm leaving them exposed to the air.

And what was exposed was an entire graveyard –hundreds of them- and not just of _the-ones-from-before _but also dozens of old broken war machines that had toppled on top of each other.

All this hadn't been here the day before…

Archways wondered how much they had missed during the previous couple of days. How much of the past laid just beneath the surface? Archways marched on, checking every nook and cranny they could find.

But there wasn't much, not even any trapped cloth critters moved within the machines. In fact, whatever creatures had been trapped had already been set free from the looks of it - all the gates in the every single war machines had been opened.

Could that mean there was someone else nearby?

Archways gave a series of long thrills and rapid fast chirps in hopes someone would hear them. They hadn't seen one soul since leaving the path and a friend would be nice.

But no one replied.

Well, sometimes it just takes getting to the highest spot to be noticed.

Archways immediately trudged up the highest dune to try again but upon reaching the top could only stand in shocked silence at what laid behind it.

A MASSIVE war machine, almost fully intact despite the holes littering its thick armor, was sticking out the ground like a miniature mountain. This thing was as big as fifty other war machines combined. The smaller ones were scary enough and Archways hoped they'd never see a big one like this in action. It also left a familiar tug in their memory. A scene that was shown to them over and over again.

A scene shown to them by _the-ones-from-before_ of them wagering war against one another. A battle had broken out over the city and there in the center of it all was a war machine –one that had dwarfed the rest- tearing down a building with ease.

Was this the same one from the story?

Archways was pulled from his uneasy thoughts to the sound of old gates grinding open.

At the second segment, the one before the head, a white cloak walked out into the sunlight. They hadn't noticed Archways as their back was facing them.

Archways gave a happy thrill as they jumped into the air – gilding with ease down to the white cloak. Maybe it was someone they had met before on the path? But as they got closer, it became increasingly obvious that something wasn't quite right.

The white cloak had spun around at their call and instead of returning a happy hello or simple greeting they had become tense and had puffed out their cloak to look bigger.

And look bigger they did because as Archways travel the long length of the war machine they realized that the white cloak was _a lot_ taller than any other white cloak they'd encounter before.

Archways landed a little ways away from the strange stranger – more distance than they usually did – and peered at the face of the tall white cloak. Archways gave a confused tweet instinctively as they tried to process what they were seeing.

It was a _one-from-before_ but without the pure white glow of the others; in fact, their cloak wasn't bright at all, but dulled from damage, ripped at the edges with brittle brown spots here and there. The face was off too – one side was white with a blue eye like the other _ones-from-before_ but the other side was black as their own with a white eye. The split between sides wasn't even either with a grey zigzag crawling down the middle and a small island of black surrounded by white on the one side. The signature "V" was also missing.

With a start, Archways realized something very important

This _one-from-before_ was _Alive_.

And they had not moved an inch since Archways had landed near them, still stiff as a statue.

Archways gave another, albeit more hesitant, chirp of greetings.

The living-one-from-before eyed them with their own confusion and a hint of suspicion before letting their cloak relax. They were very much still tense, however, and kept their distance.

"_Who are you? And why are you so… small? And Red?"_ They asked, but unfortunately, Archways had no idea what they had just said. The other _ones-from-before_, the six from the path, had just projected images with a single chirp and let said images do all the talking for them.

Archways nervously shuffled where they stood and kind of scanned the ground a bit. The _living-one-from-before_ wasn't patient like the six Archways knew and gave a sharp click-like sound.

Archways guessed the only thing they could do was try.

"I! Ahkloaeu! I lihfeaunou?"

"_What?"_

"AWGNU!"

"_Has the desert gotten to you?"_

Archways didn't know what to do. The _living-one-from-before_ looked baffled and by the sound of their chirps they were extremely confused and even a bit concerned. What HAD they just said to them? Archways shuffled where they stood and scanned the ground again, now embarrassed.

But looking at the sand gave them an idea. They can talk with pictures! But what to say?

Archways began scribbling in the sand with their leg drawing out the building at the beginning of the path and their flight to here and the storm they had gotten stuck in. It wasn't as good as the tapestries from the path but it was clear. They looked up at the _living-one-from-before_ then back down to the drawings they made – they did this several times before tapping on the ground next to the drawings and taking a step back.

The _living-one-from-before_ cautiously step forward and kept their eyes on them as they drew near. They nearly bent in half trying to look at the pictures and they gave a curious hum from deep in their chest.

"_What's this place?"_ They asked and tapped the building from the beginning of the path. And while Archways didn't understand the words, they did understand the gesture. Hastily they drew the mountain on top of the building.

"_You're from the mountain?" _They chirped with a mixture of emotion that Archways couldn't quite place. Their voice sounded both happy and sad and something else too.

"_Tell me – or show me I guess - some more?" _They tweeted with genuine curiosity, but Archways still couldn't understand their words. Archways gave an exaggerated tilt of their head in confusion. The _living-one-from-before_ seemed confused for a second as Archway failed to speak before getting the hint.

"_Right… you speak gibberish…"_ They deadpanned before drawing out their own pictures in reply.

And that's how it went for hours – just drawing back and forth in an effort to understand each other.

As it went on, Archways became more and more happy at having found the _living-one-from-before_ because they held the answers they were out here looking for.

More stories, More lessons, More knowledge of the past, and most importantly -

How to talk.


	4. Ch4: The Ancestor's Home

The sun was far past its highest by the time they stopped and Archways had learned many things from and about _the-alive-one-from-before._

But one thing stood out the most was, while Archways WAS learning more from the alive-one (such as hearing familiar words spoken not sung) and was thrilled to have met them, they were ATROCIOUS at conveying things through pictures. Time and time again they made their drawings too complex to the point that the ideas and thoughts and questions were all muddled and lost. They also didn't do events in a straight line and they were all littered on the ground disconnected from one another; even if two or more were a part of a story. Archways ended up having to lead by example with their own drawings; simple and easy to understand.

Like them playing with other ones-from-now and days of surfing down sands. They also asked questions about the humongous war machine, drawing part of the scene where it destroys the building and then pointing at the one laying on the ground. Was it the same one? Unfortunately, the-alive-one shook their head "no"; that filled Archways with distant dread.

_The-alive-one-from-before_ went onto a new subject, but while they were getting better at their pictures they still hadn't gotten it quite right yet.

They were trying to ask… something.. they had seemed interested in the mountain in some shape or form - as were many of their questions –It gave Archways the thought that this one hadn't been to the Mountain at all. But, like many of their other drawings, the question was nearly lost because of their execution of the drawing; this time they got lost in doing the patterns on the other _ones-from-before's _cloaks (which only confirmed Archways suspicions, the cloaks they drew all had different levels of patterns but _alive-one_ didn't). If they had to guess by the number of them they were drawing then Archways thought that maybe they were asking if there were others like them at the mountain.

And so Archways responded to that; figures all laying face-first on the ground and with the sand covering them on top –dead, all of them.

_The-alive-one_ hadn't responded with another picture to that one, simply drooping down and not uttering a word. Their eyes – both white and blue – looked far, far away from the present. After a few moments past, they scrunch up their face in thought before drawing a very familiar figure – the statue of the six.

_"Do _you_ know what _this is_?"_ They tapped it twice and then pointed at Archways with a foot.

Archways nodded, sure in the question being asked despite some words being unknown to them – for now. They drew a lengthy line in the sand where at the bottom they spaced out the six statues and at the top they put the six scenes of the tapestry –one scene for each statue.

The-alive-one blinked in surprise once it was done.

_"Six are still standing?"_ The-alive-one muttered to themself. Archways had their own question to ask back as they circled the birds and the plants in the first scene, going so far as to mimic the noise birds made, before lifting their pointed leg to the-alive-one; they wanted to know if the-alive-one ever saw them.. well.. flying and being alive like themselves.

"Birds?" The-alive-one chirped quizzically with a new word Archways finally recognized before sudden eagerness struck the-alive-one. "I_'ve GOT to show _you_ something, something _I_'ve wanted _to_ share with someone and something _I_ think _you_'ll love!"_ They chimed gleefully as they got up abruptly and practically galloped towards the gate at the top of the Giant war machine's neck. Archways followed suit with a series of curious fwees and clicks. What was going on?

The two of them waited as the gates slowly groaned open in protest. The-alive-one shuffled from foot-to-foot impatiently – it looked like a strange dance almost. The millisecond the gate was wide enough the-alive-one darted in - almost getting stuck on the gate itself in their haste.

Archways lagged behind as they let their eyes roam the entrance for a moment. They could see lanterns lighting the way down and the way down was deeper than Archways had previously guessed. Carefully they surfed down the steep hill and entered what must've either once been a building or a natural cave that the war machine fell on top of. The holes at the top of the machine let lazy light shine through that helped illuminate the area.

But the expansive room itself and its size weren't what held Archways' wide eyes.

Row upon row were plants – small plants, wide plants, tall plants, plants of many colors, plants with fruit, plants with flowers, plants plants plants.

Most of the spacious area was filled to the brim with plants all carefully attended to with barely a lick of sand to see. There was even a little winding creek –protected in the shade from the greedy dry air above- dancing between them.

The-alive-one ignored them, instead hurriedly darting to a back corner past a bunch of tools and gizmos all the while clicking some tune Archways didn't recognize.

Archways followed them curious as to what had gotten the-alive-one so giddy all of a sudden when the-alive-one shouted with delight and beckoned them over.

"_Here _I _found it! It's been so long since _I've_ last looked through it myself that it got buried under all _this_ stuff." _The-alive-one gently wrapped their cloak under what looked like a regular slab of stone. Archways got a little distracted as they were memorized by how the-alive-one had grabbed ahold and lifted the slab with the edges of their cloak. The slab was obviously a tad bit heavy as the-alive-one strained and heaved the slab up onto an eroded table where it made a loud thump.

But the sound of the thump piqued Archways too. Rocks falling on top of other rocks did not go 'thump'.

And then the-alive-one flipped it _open_.

"I _used to draw all sorts of _birds _when they were still around_." The-alive-one said but the excitement from before soon became as distant as the mountain. "_They're all gone now, but _I_ like to remind _myself _every once in a while as _not to_ forget them."_

Archways hopped up onto the table –one built for someone much taller – to actually see the contents of the not-a-slab. When they did they became locked on the spot; it was a little like a tapestry but with a hundred more pictures. And despite the brittle yellowing pages, everything was intact and still shone with its spectrum of colors and details. Birds, hundreds if not thousands of them, were drawn in colored charcoal. And it wasn't one species either; they all varied in size, shape, coloration, and patterns; every precious detail captured and hoarded within its pages.

The one thing that stood out the most was that they didn't look like they were made of cloth like they themselves. Archways always had the idea that they weren't, but seeing it confirmed was a whole new feeling.

"I…_ tried_ to_ save some, long ago, but there were too few already and something made them sick_," The-alive-one said with a crack in their voice. "I _don't know what happened really_. I tried, _but.._"

They turned away for a moment to collect themself. Archways gave a small comforting coo to the tall white cloak, but hadn't a clue what else to do to ease their sudden sorrow. The seconds ticked by while Archways waited but soon they started to absent-mindedly flipped from one page to the next until it landed on a very familiar looking bird.

One that was now in full realistic detail rather than the simplified version Archways was always so accustomed to.

What wonders it would've been to see.

Archways chimed loudly like a church bell, startling the-alive-one out of their thoughts. Already Archways had jumped down to the ground to draw.

It was them, the two of them together, out on the vast desert with birds flying overhead. And then another picture of them flying with the birds. Archways squinted their eyes in a big happy grin as they waited for Alive-one's thoughts. Perhaps they could out and find some? The desert WAS vast.

But the Alive-one's mood didn't change.

"_They're gone, don't _you _understand_?" The alive-one rumbled from deep in their chest. "_maybe if _I _– no, no, no more thinking about _this_ no – aurgh _not _again_."

Archways looked up puzzled at the sudden steamy mist that escaped the alive-one's eyes. Oh, maybe that wasn't the right thing to draw? Archways fell silent as they awkwardly looked for anything to cheer up Alive-one before landing their eyes on vibrant green.

"Paagreh! Paurish! this this this!"

Alive-one's gaze followed Archways as they skipped over to the plants, befuddled enough by their sort –of- gibberish-sort-of-not to lessen the mist.

Archway's did a little twirl than dramatically swung their cloak wide before gesturing towards Alive-one. Alive-one sort of stared before lowering their head. Archways gave a quiet tweet – was Alive-one still upset? But before Archways could try something else, Alive-one started shaking –shaking from holding in a laugh.

"I_ guess that sort of makes sense? Those plants must be an impossible sight _to_ see _for you_…"_ Alive-one chuckled, but it was bittersweet and held a distant contempt for what had happened. "_But…these are just a handful of what was once many.."_ While Archways was far from fluent, they knew the emotions Alive-one was going through and what it entailed. It was here that Archways decided that they needed to remind the tall white cloak what it was to have some joy in the world.

Archways ran up to the nearest plant – a sturdy looking thing with drooping limbs and purple flowers- and hopped right on to the top.

"_What are _you _doing?" _Alive-one quizzically asked as Archways disappeared into the middle of it – only to watch Archways fling themself high above it with a loud ping before plummeting down into the next plant out of view only to pop out of that one as well. Over and over and up and down, Archways played peek-a-boo.

Alive-one shuffled awkwardly where they stood as they watched Archways hop and fly about from plant to plant.

Archways landed on a stout plant of many branches and pinged an inviting note, but Alive-one did not move from their spot. They sat down abruptly on top of the plant wondering why the alive-one wasn't joining in on the game and quickly decided to swoop back down to the tall white cloak and try a different method.

They dived down from above and landed right in front of Alive-one–not noticing them flinch back- and started to ping insistently, running up to Alive-one then to the plants and then back again.

"…?"Alive-one pinged back.

"Me you goes to plaemusht!" Archways smushed and pulled what words they knew (while trying not to sing them) and threw in what they thought might be the word 'plants' to try and get their intent across.

"Me you goes to _what? Do _you_ mean _plants?"

"Plinets!"

"Plants."

"Plants!"

"… _what _am I, _or rather, what are we supposed _to_ do with the _ plants?"

Archways scrunched their eyes and stared dumbfounded at the Alive-one. Of the few hundred people they met in their life before Alive-one, all of which had a total of 26 words at most to use, every single one of them knew that they wanted to play with just the body language Archways gave off.

Archways took a step closer to Alive-one and went to nudge them for greater emphasize but Alive-one backed up and clicked nervously. The red cloak tilted their head one way and then the other as they tried to understand why the living ancestor before them just couldn't understand what a simple invitation to play was and - oh…

Alive-one was probably all alone and for quite a long while, not to mention that the other ancestors had been at war with one and another.

Did Alive- one even know how to play?


	5. Ch5: A Thing Called Sleep

That had been a few hours ago… and still Archways could not get the living one-from-before to understand what playing was. Each and every attempt at showing just fell flat on the-one-from-before.

It was like trying to get a wall to dance.

They were a good companion nevertheless despite that. Archways had no doubt that Alive-one could teach them many things as they HAD many things. Apart from the talking and the plants, there were rooms and rooms of various stuff that the ancestor had obviously hoarded/protected throughout the years and obviously wanted to show.

It would take a lot of time they knew, the pictures of the birds itself would take about the time to get to the mountain and back and then more to truly understand. Archways was giddy with excitement –the same kind as their very first journey but with _more._

But it came with a little-known feeling. It was jittery and mind-racing and made their thoughts go blank. Archways wanted to explore every item and every nook and cranny right this instant and not stop until everything was explored and yet they didn't know where to start.

"_Sun's gone down… Time for bed."_ Alive-one flatly said and began moving off to somewhere. Archways assumed something amazing and chittered excitedly after the ancestor. They shrugged the previous feeling off after realizing that they just needed to follow Alive-one with whatever they decided to show first. It was their place after all!

Alive-one stopped in their tracks, almost startled-like, before giving a short sort of note and changing course.

"_Right, right, right, right! Other person here, small other person needs a bed too." _Alive-one muttered to themself as they hurriedly made their way over to a particular row of plants. They were as tall as the ancestor themself and thin as a stick with a strange brown part at the very top. Alive-one reached up to one of those brown bits and began testing below them for any give.

Archways had no idea what Alive-one was doing besides lightly pinching plants with their cloak and thought it was… odd.

The plants, however, gave their quiet hellos and chatter like it was normal as Alive-one continued to poke around.

"_Not many dry ones left… hmmm… oh! Thank _you_, the lot of _you!" Alive-one tweeted as some of the plants pinged more insistently towards a browner patch of plants. "_Perfect_!"

Snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap!

Archways looked on in confused horror as Alive-one snapped the tops off the plants.

And immediately gave a series of distressed tings.

Alive-one puffed out from the noise and immediately went stiff as a statue.

"Is_ there something dangerous here?"_ Alive-one whispered with a shake in their voice.

Archways simply trotted over to the snapped tops and chirped comforting coos.

All fell silent.

But only for a moment or two because soon the plants all exploded with their choir of a thousand chirps.

Were… were the plants _laughing_?

"_Sweet skies above…. _You_ thought_ I_ hurt the _plants_.."_ Alive-one dropped their stiff stance like a sack of rocks and huffed before turning away to collect themself. Archways could only stand around awkwardly as they tried to figure out what had happened, giving sheepish glances as they waited for an answer.

"This is_ okay, don't get mad, they didn't know, probably just their first time seeing a _plant _and what _one _does with parts of _plants,_ that's all Last, that's all."_ Alive-one muttered to no one but themself. Archways gave a tentative ping as they watched the one-from-before whisper to the air. Alive-one peered over their slim shoulder with a worn look and nodded to themself.

"_right, right… they ne- _You_ need a bed… _I'll _show _you_ what these parts are for."_ Alive-one said unevenly like their voice was fighting the mountain's storm. Archways stumbled after, still a little dazed by the events from moments ago until finally they were walking by their side.

But they dared not touch, dared not get any closer because unlike almost all other cases with an upset, scare, or nervous companion, Alive-one simply didn't like to be touched and they quickly understood not to; but it didn't mean that they didn't wish they could, the overlapping of cloaks and bursting light had always been a comfort to many.

Just not Alive-one.

"_In here,"_ Alive-one stated as they passed through a doorway. It lead to a long hallway, one that had been even longer eons before but the end of it had collapsed at some point. It had many other rooms branching off of it and Archways wondered what could be in all of them.

"This one," Alive-one stated again and Archways quickly followed them into the first room on the left.

Inside was relatively bare compared to other parts of the building, the only notable items in the room being two big slabs at opposite ends, a table, a small lantern, and another '_book_' with lots of colored charcoal.

"This_ place _is_ my bedroom and has been for almost two centuries. There's an empty second bed here _that I'll _set up for _you _tonight_." Alive-one said as they made their way over to one of the slabs. Archways wanted to know what the slab was and decided to hop right up on top of it… Only to slip and fall into the hollow middle; at least it got a laugh that was more like a snort out of Alive-one.

"_Okay, okay, please step aside_!" Alive-one rumbled happily. Archways instantly climbed up onto the edge of the hollow slab. What would Alive-one show them with this?

Alive-one took one of the brown tops and gave it a little shake before bringing it down and whacking it against the edge. Archways hardly had to question why when the thing exploded into blinding light. When Archways finally blinked away the dark spots in their vision, they were greeted by a surprising amount of white fluff that was now laid in the basin of the slab.

Alive-one hardly stopped to let Archways take in the sight before they were doing the rest; by the end, the slab was overflowing with fluff.

"I _don't exactly have the time _to_ properly smush _this _down so nothing floats off, but it'll keep _you_ cozy all the same,"_ Alive-one stated with a wave of the now-fluffless ends. "I'll_ be right back, just _going to_ put the seeds in a jar."_

Archways glanced towards the ancestor as they left the room only to focus back on the white fluff. Immediately they were poking the fluff around, watching how the mass waivered with every touch.

It didn't take them long to decide to jump into it.

The plunge sent all the loose fluff flying and the subsequent flailing about in glee did little to rein it in.

When Alive-one came back, they were greeted with a mess. One bit of fluff lazily floated down until it rested on the top of the ancestor's head. They shook their head in disbelief before trudging over to the still playing Archways.

Archways didn't notice the-alive-one had returned until their shadow was looming over them.

"I _hope _you're going_ to clean that up_." Alive-one deadpanned as they poked Archways with an excusatory foot.

Archways simply wiggled with excitement.

"It's_ bedtime."_ Alive-one forced out as soon as it became evident that the little red cloak wasn't settling. "You _know… _go-to_-sleep-time?"_

Archways stopped all movement as they stared at Alive-one. They weren't sounding practically friendly, but they couldn't place what was wrong now.

Alive-one simply sighed and turned away, going over to the other slab and stepping into the middle. Ever curious Archways peeped at Alive-one and promptly hopped out of their own slab and trotted over to theirs. The tall white cloak had laid down in theirs and had their eyes closed but they quickly snapped open as Archways leaned over the edge to look.

"Go. To_. Sleep."_ Alive-one said with a truly unpleasant sound. They slowly sat back up and glared at Archways, but Archways stood there frozen.

With a huff of displeasure, Alive-one got out of their bed and herded Archways back over to theirs. Archways plopped back into their fluffed with hardly a ping, but still eyed the Alive-one closely; they hadn't the foggiest idea what Alive-one wanted them to do. They sat still, however, as the-alive-one packed down some of the fluff around them.

"_Sleep."_ Alive-one repeated as they stepped away.

Soon they were sluggishly heading back to their slab and lying back down. Archways studied the-alive-one for several more minutes as they puzzled about this particular situation. Was this a type of meditation? A time to reflect on the day? Whatever it was, Alive-one wasn't moving much, only shuffling every once in a while. Eventually, Alive-one flipped over and was now facing the still-awake Archways.

"_For the love of the Mountain, just Sleep_." Was all they said before closing their eyes again and refusing to utter another word.

Archways gave one last quizzical look before attempting to copy Alive-one, lying down in that weird way and shuffling about until they were comfortable. They didn't close their eyes right away though and instead imagined the cracks and the lines in the ceiling being pictures or scenes in a story. They had made a whole tale by the time they realized that they felt that heaviness again. Archways gave a few slow blinks as they tried to fight the heaviness, but lost the fight quickly as they rolled to their side and nestled further into the fluff.

Soon they were out like a light.

But Alive-one tossed and turned throughout the night.

**A/N: To the guest who worried i wouldn't be doing more, I don't plan to stop anytime soon! Chapter just got majorly delayed due to real life issues :Y Hopefully the next one won't be so delayed!**


	6. Ch6: A Flower to see

Archways stood staring towards the entrance of the ancestor's home, contemplating. It was the dawn of the fourth day and they were wondering if it was time to leave. As the days went by, Alive-one got more and more prone to outbursts of impatience and frustration.

Archways wasn't a stranger to saying goodbye to companions whether it was at the end, smack in the middle, or even the very beginning of a journey. Some were participating in a race and couldn't stop for a hello, some wanted to explore at their own pace, and others simply just wanted to be alone to meditate.

Every time it happened, Archways understood and let those fleeting encounters be just that; fleeting.

But this was different, it had a lot more to lose if they left, not just for Archways but for all the _ones-from-now _back at the path.

Archways glanced over their shoulder to Alive-one, who was currently sulking beside the plants a good distance away, muttering something to the plants who in turn sang softly. As Archways got to know them better, the more Archways realized just how the war, and subsequent isolation, must've affected them. They didn't know the specifics but considering how their behavior vastly differed to any of the hundreds of ones-from-nows' they've met, well… something_ had_ to have happened.

And that Something had caused something to break in Alive-one,… but it didn't make them bad. A little unpredictable? Yes. Bad? No, not at all, as evident by the fact that despite getting more and more tense around Archways, they always backed off and went to cool down before coming back from it. Besides their meeting a few days ago, Alive-one wasn't actually hostile to them.

They recognized that, perhaps, Alive-one was simply not used to having a companion, especially all of a sudden after all this time. They had gone on for so long by themself that they surely thought there was no one left. But despite all that…they also showed a lot of excitement too. There was always something Alive-one wanted to show and things they wanted to teach. They laughed a lot, even if each one was brief, but they were genuine all the same. And their eyes would light up when they told stories, grateful for a listening ear, even if Archways didn't know half the words.

It was confusing to say the least and Archways didn't know how to help.

They thought back to leaving, to give Alive-one their space, but then come back so they could still have the opportunity to learn new things. However, the idea was quickly thrown out due to the fact Archways was doubtful they'd be able to find the place again. Not only had they nearly flown past it but it had also been covered over with sand, unseen, until the storm unearthed it. If it got covered back up while they were gone, it'd be impossible to find again. It didn't help that there wasn't any good landmarks that headed towards it, just miles of identical dunes. Perhaps Alive-one had a way, but Archways hadn't seen them leave once since first entering and was unsure if they ever did besides the occasionally peek outside.

Many ideas bounced around in their head but in the end they decided to stay just a bit longer; to properly plan things through, maybe get the right words to ask some important questions.

For now, they ambled over to one of the too-tall tables. Alive-one had set aside multiple spaces throughout the area with this one having an empty sketch book to draw in and a rainbow of charcoal to choose from. Idly, they flipped through the first couple of filled pages until they got to a blank one.

Archways thought for a moment and then grab some red charcoal – or at least tried. They weren't very good at holding the utensil with the edge of their cloak yet. There was a certain finesse that they just didn't quite possess and so they had to fiddle around a bit to try to get a better grip. While fiddling, they pictured in their mind what they wanted to draw. The first few pages were hardly pictures, mostly faltering scribbles with a vague impression of a thing or a person.

With a new idea firmly implanted in their mind, Archways gripped the charcoal as tight as they could and pressed the tip onto the page hard. They tried to keep steady but still ended up with shaky lines; at least this time it was going in the general direction they wished it to go. For almost an hour, they slowly and painstakingly scribble away, switching between red, yellow, black, and green. Just as Archways was about done, Alive-one had calmed down and had grown curious to what they were drawing.

Archways gave a short ping of hello but ultimately didn't push for much else.

"What's that?" Alive-one chirped curiously as they focus on the center of the piece. Said piece had two red cloaks bending down to look at something – reminiscent of the scene from the very first statue where four ancestors had bent down to look at a growing plant-like cloth.

Except this piece wasn't about being at awe of the power of glyphs and cloth.

"Plant," Archways simply said. "Flower."

"A flower?" Alive-one repeated. Archways waited for Alive-one to continue, it seemed they were thinking a thought or two. "_And another person like _you_... _was this _on the _surface? Where?"

"Pink sand, green sky." Archways answered with their limited, but also now stronger vocabulary, while touching up a spot as they did. "Close to Mountain."

Alive-one gave a small slow nod."I_ … didn't think any _plants_ could survive _up… there_."_ There was a disbelieving sound to the ancestor's voice with a mix of… hope, maybe, as they trailed off into silence. Neither of them talked for several long moments, both of them trapped in their thoughts. Archway's mostly wondered about what Alive-one could be thinking as Alive-one stared off into space. Perhaps… they could take Alive-one with them? It wouldn't really give them the space they needed, but if they wanted to…

"Go to flower?" "_Can _you_ show _me where _the_ flower is?" They both said at the same time. They blinked at each other before Alive-one snorted a short laugh.

"_Guess _that'_s a '_yes_'_."

Archways stilled, just for a moment, as they processed that, yes Alive-one was willing to do this and that they'd be going back to the Mountain, finally, after this long week away. Nothing of fault on Alive-one or their home, but Archways was yearning to head back to theirs.

With barely any contained excitement, Archways spun around in a circle making all sorts of noises before bee-lining towards the entrance, leaving a startled but amused Alive-one behind as they followed after with a shake of their head. It was only when Archways had dashed out the gate and got to the tallest point of the area that they realized something very very _incredibly_ important.

They could no longer see the Mountain.

There was a moment of denial as Archways spun around frantically searching in all directions, but nothing of the Mountain could be found; not a speck of its presence could be seen from its silhouette down to its calling light, not even the faintest of glowing could be found behind the clouds.

Had they really not noticed that they had gone so far?

Archways spotted Alive-one just as they left the entrance, slowly trailing after. Once sighted, Archways boomed out loud trills – not quite distress nor panicked, but certainly attention grabbing. Alive-one paused as they assessed Archways before giving a short ping back and quickening their pace. Archways stood unmoving as they waited for Alive-one to get closer.

"_Little eager aren't _we?" Alive-one asked. Archways simply responded by spinning around again and chirping rapidly, forgetting all words momentarily. It was only when they got confused silence that they sought out to use at least one word. Now they were spinning around going, "Mountain? Mountain? Mountain? Where Mountain?"

"_Oh_." It finally clicked with Alive-one. "You_ don't know _how to get_ back do _you?"

Archways gave a prolonged, sad fwee as they hung their head low.

"I was_ wondering if _you_ knew _or not_… guess _not." Alive-one said, but they weren't down-trodden like Archways had expected. "_It's a good _thingI've got_ maps then _yes?"

Archways tilted their head to the side, confused, as Alive-one motioned for them to follow. Back at the entrance, Archways hummed with concern; had Alive-one changed their mind maybe? But their confidence was something of note. When Alive-one told them to stay put, it made Archways light up again in excitement.

Alive-one DID have a way it seemed.

Archways sat down roughly as they waited for whatever Alive-one would bring out. It took several long minutes but eventually they made it back to the surface with something in toll. It was made of something like cloth but thicker and with three odd scarves coming off of it. Two of them were long and thin placed on either side and one short thick one at the top.

"_Now _this, this_ will show _us _the way_!" Alive-one exclaimed as they flipped a flap over and pulled out some rolled up paper and held it out to the red cloak. Archways grasped it, thought better of holding it with their cloak, and set it down on the sand to get a good look at it.

It was a lot like a tapestry, same style and everything, but it didn't seem to tell a story at all. On it was the Mountain set at the top and below it was the ruined city. These locations they recognized, but there were other places too scattered about on the gridded paper that they didn't. Another thing was that each location had a small glyph placed directly beneath them.

It was times like this that Archways wished they could read, they still hadn't gotten around to those lessons yet.

"That's_ a local map_," Alive-one explained as they pointed out the locations. "_It has the main city at the base of the _Mountain_ as well as some of the smaller towns. _We don't_ need _this one_ at the moment since, again, it's a local map. Small."_ Alive-one rerolled the map and stuck it back in with the rest before pulling out another.

"We'll_ be using _this one_, as well as a star map if anyplace has been completely wiped from existence_." Alive-one rambled on. "I've got_ a compass to point the way and a couple of other instruments in case _we_ get lost. OH and _I'm_ bringing some _seeds _with, in case _there's_ enough good soil _there for them."

Archways, as usual, didn't understand everything, but looking at the second map made everything make sense. Whereas the ones-from-now showed others locations by physically taking them there, this picture gave a 2D visual look of the entire lay of the land.

With a thrilled trill, Archways dance around in a circle stomping the ground in delight.

This was a perfect solution!

But then Alive-one's eyes grew dim and they drew themself up slowly to gaze towards the entrance of their home.

Archways deflated; of course this didn't mean it was going to be easy.

With a wavered cheep, Archways caught the attention of Alive-one, their own eyes dimmed down as well.

"No, no, we're _still_ going_, but _I got to_ say good-bye first_," Alive-one said, making themself perked up again even if it was hard. "Got to_ make sure _my plants will_ be okay while _I'm_ gone_."

Archways watched them shuffle back inside while they waited next to the maps. They fiddled with the sand and tried not to let nervousness get the better of them. The several long stretched out minutes felt like the most unbearable moments in all of Archways' life despite waiting for longer with no problem. Alive-one would come back, they knew they would.

The instant the rusted gates groaned once more, Archways perked up and stared hopefully towards the entrance and was rewarded with Alive-one stepping out into the light once again. They triumphantly sang one loud note as they waited once more for the living ancestor to make it back towards them.

Once at the top, Alive-one gave a happy squint of their eyes before giving a loud chirp towards the bag holding the maps. Glyphs embedded into the odd scarves shone out in response before lifting off the ground and latching itself onto the back of Alive-one's neck, the thick one right where Archway's own scarf connected while the two thinner ones went to the sides.

Archways blinked as the straps turned white to match Alive-one's cloak; it was certainly a convenient way to carry things though nevertheless a strange concept to the red cloak.

They were so enthralled by it that they didn't notice Alive-one staring at a contraption they held, it was only when they turned to face another direction that Archways became aware of it.

"There we go_..."_Alive-one muttered but spoke more clearly after. "This way to _the_ Mountain_!"_

Archways beamed with all the happiness in the world and soon danced in a circle again, chirping their heart out.

However, they quickly paused in their cheery chirping, paused in their enthusiasm for the journey to the flower, to see that Alive-one was stuck gazing back to their home again. They gave a tentative ping and yet Alive-one didn't move. It wasn't until Archways had moved close that Alive-one snapped out of their statue-like state.

"_Sorry, _I'm_… always worried _when I_ leave _my plants_… and _that's for_ short trips. _This – this is going to be_ the longest time _I've _been away."_ Alive-one explained. "_Maybe _this is_ stupid, _going _all the way over _there to_ see a single_ flower."

Archways was having none of this, not now. With a loud burst of sound, Archways heavily exaggerated their excitement in hopes to stop the shift in emotions as swiftly as it had come. Alive-one was so startled that they froze right in their tracks and expected something more, but Archways just nonsensically chirped repeatedly and ran back and forth between the ancestor and the direction of the mountain all the while flapping their cloak up and down.

"_Uh…okay… yeah_." Alive-one dumbfoundedly muttered as they watched the smaller wayfarer. "_Yeah.. _they.. they will_ be okay and fine… and _I got_ my maps… _do I have _all _my_ maps? _Do I have my_ compass? _I… no.. no, no, no_.. _stop this_ Last _you_ already checked ten times_!"

Archways shook their head at the worrywart of a one-from-before, but at least they had started to walk in the direction of the Mountain. With an encouraging tweet, Archways flapped their cloak once and let the wind catch them and throw them up high.

"_Uhhhhhh…_You_ can fly… pretty well_." Alive-one said in a trance as they were trying to calm themself down. Archways landed at the top of next dune over and watched Alive-one trudge up it far, far slower with a bit of concern. It wasn't a matter of patience on Archways part that concerned them, but whether or not if Alive-one would last the trek to the mountain and not chicken out partway at this pace.

Archway gave a curious pip and emphasized their cloak; they didn't know the word for 'fly' yet and hope Alive-one would catch on.

"_Fly _there?" And catch-on Alive-one did. "_Sorry _to_ say but _I don't got no_ fancy _glyphs to fly_ with. _There weren't_ any glyphs left _when.. when I_ left_." Archways huffed quietly enough not to be heard. They knew that tone of theirs, and they knew that this was going to be a _long_ walk. And yet they held it suffocatingly close to their heart that they must wait patiently as they'd always had for everyone else despite knowing the length of time was going to test their limits and all just to keep Alive-one moving forwards.

But Archways had never abandoned a companion in need before and they wouldn't start now.

They promised they never would.


End file.
